Rock Drop 14-11 Decision To Rochester

Rock Playoff Hopes Still Alive Despite Loss

Toronto, ON – The Toronto Rock (7-9) dropped a 14-11 decision to the Rochester Knighthawks (9-7) on Saturday night at Air Canada Centre. The Rock held a halftime lead of 8-6 and were tied 10-10 heading into the final quarter but couldn’t secure the win.

With the NLL’s East Division standings as tight as they are, the Rock are still alive in the hunt for a playoff spot but the last two games, both on the road, are now must wins for Toronto and they will also be relying on some help from western opponents.

“It’s frustrating and disappointing,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer after being asked about coming out on the wrong side of some close games recently. “We compete hard and everybody wants to come out on the right side of things. But the fact is we’re not getting the job done and we need to find a way to be better in a lot of areas.”

The Rock found themselves on solid ground in the first half after building an 8-3 on the strength of a five goal run that spanned the back half of the opening quarter and stretched into the second. However, Rochester got on a run of their own, trimming the Rock lead to 8-6 at the half.

The Knighthawks scored the first two goals of the second half, equalling the Rock’s five-goal run, tying the game at 8-8. The Rock took the lead with a pair of goals, but once again the Knighthawks were able to claw their way back to a 10-10 at the end of the third quarter.

The two teams exchanged goals in the early going of the fourth quarter but Rochester’s Joe Resetarits delivered a pair of daggers to give Rochester a 13-11 lead. Cody Jamieson scored into an empty net to seal the 14-10 win.

Tom Schreiber was tremendous for the Rock in his first game in two months. He scored four goals to lead the Rock attack and had a golden opportunity for a fifth but was denied on a third quarter penalty shot. Adam Jones and Reid Reinholdt each scored a pair with Kieran McArdle, Dan Lintner and Dan Taylor scoring once. Taylor’s goal was his first in a Rock uniform.

The Rock take to the road now to close out the regular season with a game in Buffalo next Saturday night and a game in Colorado against the Mammoth the following weekend on Apr. 28. Next week’s game is the Twitter Game of the Week and both games will be broadcast live on NLLTV.com.

2018-19 Toronto Rock Season Tickets are on sale now. Please visit torontorock.com/tickets or phone 416-596-3075 for more information.